The Story of the Faber Centre

Faber Centre, the newest centre of the Centres of Ignatian Spirituality throughout Australia, was launched in Brisbane on 4th August 2006 and nestled in the luxurious grounds at St Paul’s Theological College, Banyo.

Faber is named after Saint Peter Faber (1506-1546), one of the first companions of Saint Ignatius at the University of Paris (1528-1534) and the first among them to be ordained a priest.

The Faber Centre of Ignatian Spirituality under its founding director, Fr Chris Gleeson sj, began offering a variety of retreats and spiritual programs in 2007 based on Ignatian Spirituality and adapted to the different needs of people.

Five pioneers of the Spiritual Exercises in Queensland thewho also actively shared in the first activities of the Faber Centre - Mr John Borger, Fr John Drury sj, Sister Delphine O'Shea mss, Fr Vince Hurley sj and Sr Pat Clouston rc.

The amalgamation of St Paul’s Theological College with ACU Theology at the end of 2008 meant that Faber had to vacate its wonderful home at Banyo and find a new location.

The Sisters of the Sacred Heart and Stuartholme Girls School came to our rescue and offered us a new and larger home in Brisbane in a spacious section of their property at Freer’s Farm in the former Freer’s Potato Chip Factory in Bardon close to Toowong.

Faber moved to this new location in February 2009 and was officially opened in April as the new site of Faber Centre of Ignatian Spirituality in Queensland. It is situated in a beautiful rainforest setting at the foot of Mt Coot-tha, opposite the Slaughter Creek Falls Picnic area.

During retreats and quiet days, participants can wander the walking tracks around the Falls area, taking in the majestic beauty of Australian gum trees and ancient rock formations while listening to the songs of the birds and the sounds of water trickling over silent stone.

No overnight accommodation is available at the Faber Centre. All Faber residential retreats are offered at the archdiocesan Santa Teresa Spirituality Centre, formerly the Cenacle Retreat Centre, which after enlargement and restructuring was officially opened by the Brisbane Archdiocese in October 2009.

All Faber offerings derive from the understanding that St lgnatius Loyola wrote the Spiritual Exercises and began to give them to others while he was a layman, and that Ignatian Spirituality belongs to everyone.

In January 2011 after laying a firm foundation for the new Faber Centre Fr Chris moved to a new appointment in Melbourne and Fr John Reilly sj who worked with Chris from the beginning was appointed the new director of Faber.

Now in 2016 after a large influx of 9 new members who successfully completed the recent three-year Arrupe Program in Queensland our Faber Team numbers 25 qualified and accredited spiritual directors at the Faber Centre.

Faber offers the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises - in solitude for 30 days or in daily life for 30 weeks, and First Spirtual Exercises for 4 weeks in daily life, and individual Spiritual Direction in the Ignatian Tradition.

The Faber Centre also offers Individually Guided Retreats for 2, 4 or 6 days, Weekend Retreats, and Day Retreats, adapted always for people in different situations and their diverse needs.

Also available are spiritual formation programs, seminars, workshops, and outreach programs to parish staff and school staff, and to regional and rural areas throughout Queensland.John Reilly sjFaber DIrector.

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About Faber

The Faber Centre of Ignatian Spirituality offers a variety of spiritual exercises, spiritual guidance, formation programs and different kinds of retreats.

Our focus is not religious services, but spiritual exercises and spiritual guidance for persons of different religions or of no religion, to develop their freedom and the interiority of their daily human experiences, to discern their beliefs, and for Christian believers to explore their faith in God for a better service of God, through, with, and in Christ.